Saturday, September 10, 2016

CCTV footage solves unusual parking fine dispute

What was already an unusual parking fine dispute story has become even more bizarre thanks to the intervention of CCTV footage.
The City of Fremantle in West Australia claimed to have caught out a woman lying on social media about an unfair parking fine she received.
The woman, Sally, had posted a photo online complaining she received a $50 fine for not parking within the white lines.

Her photo showed her parked car's front tyre barely an inch over the line.
Sally originally complained about the "unfairness" of the parking ticket ... but the council parking inspector had a different version of events.
A photo taken by the ranger who issued the fine showed Sally's car illegally parked and clearly taking up two spaces on a busy Wednesday evening in the town's centre.

Sally insisted she did not move her car to try and get out of a parking fine.
"I see the time on his photo at 6.47pm and I don't understand that at all ... I have absolutely no recollection of moving the car and nor do my witnesses," she said.
Sally then said that one of her friends had told her he had seen "four big guys" lift and move her car on the night in question.
Despite the idea seeming a bit far-fetched, the council's CCTV footage confirms that this is indeed what happened.

Nine minutes after a ranger fined Sally, four men can be seen in CCTV footage lifting her car into the centre of the parking bay to allow enough space for their vehicle to park in the neighbouring bay.
A City of Fremantle spokesman said the council released the footage as Sally seemed to be having a hard time on social media over the article.
"We now see this not as case of trying to fabricate evidence, just a really unusual series of events," he said.
"While this doesn't change the fact the car was illegally parked across two bays at the time of the fine being issued, it does support the confusion Sally would have faced when she came back to her car."
Sally is still going to have to pay her fine.